Use of inhaled nitric oxide has been tested for a number of disease conditions and has been approved for the treatment of persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn. More recently, inhaled nitric oxide has been tested in clinical trials to test the hypothesis that inhaled nitric oxide could prevent the development of bronchopulmonary dysplasia in premature newborns.
Use of inhaled nitric oxide to treat pulmonary vasoconstriction and asthma is described in Zapol U.S. Pat. No. 5,823,180. Bloch et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,935,334 teaches administration of nitric oxide together with N-acetylcysteine functioning as an anti-oxidant to protect against destruction of nitric oxide. Pro-cysteine has the same function.
Stamler et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,314,996 teaches administration into the lungs as a gas, of a compound with a nitric oxide group which does not form NO2/NOx, in the presence of oxygen or a reactive oxygen species (excludes nitric oxide), preferably ethyl nitrite (ENO), to treat pulmonary disorders associated with hypoxemia and/or smooth muscle constriction and cardiac and blood disorders. In cases, the treating agent is administered with intravenous or nebulized thiol, e.g. N-acetylcysteine, glutathione or cysteinylglycine to cause systemic release of nitric oxide from binding to cysteine of hemoglobin.
Stamler et al. U.S. Pat. No. 7,045,152 teaches treating pulmonary disorders in which the S-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO) pool or glutathione pool in the lung is depleted and where reactive oxygen species in the lung are increased, by delivering into the lung an agent causing repletion or increase in the GSNO pool or protection against toxicity and does so independently of reaction of oxygen (excludes administration of inhaled nitric oxide), e.g. ethyl nitrite, optionally with additional treatment of administration of intravenous or nebulized N-acetylcysteine as a GSNO pool repleting agent and/or to potentiate the effect of other GSNO repleting agent (ethyl nitrite).